Chapter 3 The Mind's Whisper

Over the next few days, Sylvia tested herself.

She sat in busy streets, alleys, and parks, watching people go by, focusing on one person at a time. It didn't always work. Sometimes she heard nothing at all, just the usual noise of the world. But when she felt something-an emotional pull, even a faint one-she could hear them.

A vendor counting coins and worrying about making rent.

A child scared of losing their mother in the crowd.

A woman silently cursing her husband as they argued over vegetables.

Sylvia didn't understand why or how it worked, but she started to notice patterns. The stronger the feeling, the clearer the thoughts.

By the end of the week, Sylvia was starving again. The bread and scraps she'd collected were long gone, and her stomach growled as she wandered through the marketplace.

Vendors shouted about fresh fruit, salted fish, and roasted chestnuts. The smells made her dizzy with hunger, but she didn't have a single cent to her name.

Her eyes locked onto a stall piled with apples, the red skins shining in the sunlight. The vendor was a large man with a thick beard, his voice booming as he called out to customers.

Sylvia hovered nearby, pretending to examine the next stall over. Her fingers itched to grab one, but she didn't dare. Not yet.

She closed her eyes and focused on the vendor.

°Don't look away from the coins. Someone will try to short me again. Watch the coins.°

Sylvia smiled. She didn't need him to look away from the coins-just the apples.

She waited until a customer approached, a flustered woman digging through her purse for change. The vendor leaned forward, squinting at her money, his back turned just slightly.

Sylvia moved quickly, grabbing the smallest apple she could and slipping it under her shirt.

Her heart pounded as she walked away, her eyes darting around to see if anyone noticed. When she rounded the corner and found herself alone, she let out a shaky breath and pulled out the apple.

It wasn't much, but it was hers.

She sank to the ground and took a bite, the sweet juice running down her chin. For the first time in days, she smiled.

That night, Sylvia lay on her back in an abandoned lot, staring up at the stars. She still didn't understand her gift-if that's what it was-but it didn't scare her as much anymore. If anything, it made her fearless.

. . .

Months passed since she'd first used her gift to steal that apple. Since then, she'd learned how much easier life could be when she used her ability deliberately.

She wasn't just surviving anymore. She was winning.

Her first real scam had been accidental. It happened one morning when a kind-looking woman had stopped her outside the marketplace, asking if she was lost. Sylvia had been about to walk away when the woman's thoughts slipped into her mind.

°I can't afford another stray right now. Please don't ask me for money.°

So Sylvia didn't. She had smiled, blinked her wide eyes, and asked instead if the woman had any food to spare. If her hunch was right, that should be enough to compel the woman give her the very money she didn't ask for, no matter how little.

The woman sighed but handed over a sandwich from her lunch pack and a dollar bill. Sylvia had been stunned at how simple it was. She hadn't asked for much, just enough to make the woman feel sorry for her.

As Sylvia gnawed on the sandwich, she realized the power she held. People's thoughts weren't just random whispers-they were instructions.

Later that evening, she stood outside the same market, her eyes fixed on a man counting cash near his cart. Sylvia closed her eyes and focused.

°Got to be quick. Get the change back before the customer notices.°

She stepped forward, bumping into him just as he handed over the change. "Oh! I'm so sorry!"

The man barely glanced at her, too busy counting his cash again. Sylvia slipped a handful of coins from the counter into her pocket and scurried away.

No one noticed.

But it wasn't just stealing. Sylvia was learning how to manipulate people. A soft smile and the right words could coax a stranger into giving her their leftovers. A tear in her eye and a fake story could guilt someone into giving her more than just food. And all the while, their thoughts guided her.

°She looks harmless. Poor thing. Just a kid.°

She wasn't harmless. Not anymore.

Sylvia wasn't proud of what she did. But pride didn't fill her stomach or keep her warm at night.

One night, while hiding in an alley with a few coins and an energy bar, Sylvia overheard two women talking.

"Did you hear about the soul-bonding thing?" one of them said, her voice low.

"What, that weird love thing people are talking about?"

Sylvia's ears perked up. She leaned closer, keeping to the shadows.

"They're saying it's real. When two people are truly in love-like, soulmates-they can hear each other's thoughts. Feel each other's emotions."

The other woman laughed. "Sounds like nonsense to me."

Sylvia frowned. That didn't sound like nonsense. It sounded . . . familiar.

"Doesn't happen to everyone, though," the first woman continued. "Both people have to feel it. Real love, they say. And it takes time-years sometimes-for the bond to happen."

Later that night, Sylvia couldn't stop thinking about the conversation.

Could that be what her ability was?

She'd never heard anyone else talk about being able to read minds. And if soul-bonding was supposed to take time and love from both people, then what she had was different.

Hers didn't require love. It didn't need years. She didn't even need the other person to know she existed. All it took was an emotional pull-fear, pity, anger, desire-and she could hear them.

Sylvia hugged her knees to her chest, staring up at the stars. Whatever she had, it wasn't soul-bonding. It was something else entirely. Something that made her unique.

The next morning, Sylvia stepped into the marketplace with a new sense of confidence. She didn't know why she was different, but she wasn't going to waste it.

Her bare feet padded across the cobblestones as she scanned the crowd. A vendor glanced her way, frowning. Sylvia smiled back, her mind already reaching for his thoughts.

°Keep an eye on that one. She looks like trouble.°

Sylvia grinned. Trouble? She could live with that.